County Targets Sex Shops Proposed Ordinance Would Limit Locations

Phil Sutin And William C. Lhotka Of The Post-Dispatch, St Louis Post-Dispatch (MO)

If St. Louis County authorities have their way, the "grand
opening" banner in front of California Erotic Novelties on West
Florissant Avenue near New Halls Ferry Road will be coming down
soon.

The store opened two months ago next to a loan company in a
strip mall that once housed the now-defunct Nineteenth Hole and the
bar's scantily clad dancers.

Just to the north of the mall is the Children's World Learning
Center, a bustling day-care center.
That's too close, says a proposed county ordinance licensing
and regulating "sexually oriented businesses." The proposal bars
such businesses within 1,000 feet of residential neighborhoods,
churches, private schools, hospitals, nursing homes, public parks,
other sexually oriented businesses - and day-care centers.
Restrictions being considered by the County Council would limit
such shops to "only one or two very large industrial areas," County
Counselor John Ross said Thursday. The County Council's revenue and
personnel committee on Thursday recommended passage of the bill.
The bill says its regulations cover businesses whose goods
include "a substantial portion" that are sexually oriented. It also
covers businesses with more than 25 percent of their display space
used for such materials.
The bill defines sexually oriented materials as "any device or
any other items intended to provide sexual stimulation or sexual
gratification to the customer." It listed items including books,
videotapes and sex toys.
Officials said four sexually oriented stores are in the
unincorporated area of the county. Two are near each other on West
Florissant Road north of Interstate 270. The other two are in south
St. Louis County.
County Councilman James O'Mara, D-north St. Louis County, said
he has received complaints from residents. "People don't want to go
by that kind of store when they get their hair done" at a beauty
shop several doors away, O'Mara said. …

The rest of this article is only available to active members of Questia

Print this page

While we understand printed pages are helpful to our users, this limitation is necessary
to help protect our publishers' copyrighted material and prevent its unlawful distribution.
We are sorry for any inconvenience.